May 22, 2010
It has been a year since flight 812–the Air India Express Dubai-Mangalore flight that took on 166 passengers, and only delivered 8 of them alive. The rest died when the plane landed too far down the runway, and continued over the edge of a gorge. That leaves us 8 live victims who will forever remember the trauma; and 158 deceased victims who will not, but whose passing will forever leave a black hole of absence.
Lawsuits may talk of justice, and toss around terms like economic losses; Lawyers may talk about compensation; airlines and insurers may dangle various sums of money over the families heads. But nothing anyone will do will make these families right again.
The families have to suffer the loss of their loved ones from now through eternity. And to balance that, courts offer compensation. Instead of local laws protecting their citizens, in compensation cases, the required amount to pay for a decedent in some cases could be less than any treaty. A number is slapped on each victim, as if the numeric value is that person. And sometimes, because of the way values are computed, the numbers are insulting. They’re based on earning power–In the Mangalore crash, it is a mere 35 lakhs for a non-working woman. (Roughly 75,100, U.S.). An insulting lump sum to give for a life, when currently, every person who dies in an air crash on any international flight is (technically) entitled to a final compensation of $ 1,76,000 SDRs* according to the international guidelines, the Montreal Convention.
I want justice for the families, if there is such a thing. I want fair compensation, if there is such a thing. I want that compensation to provide an umbrella of coverage to be enough so they can at least be comfortable while their psyches have a chance to adjust. Even knowing that money does not staunch the wound, nor will it bring healing, (only time does that), I am still aware that it is a tangible something that we can do for the families who will have to go on, not only minus breadwinners, but minus joy.
These families have lost the light in their lives. There is no hundred watt lightbulb they can plug in that will chase the shadows; no incandescent or florescent fixture that can be switched on to bring normal back. In spite of whatever check that will be written, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children, spouses–all will still have disappeared into that black hole of absence. The families will have to learn to scrabble through, and hang on until they find a new normal. But if I have a chance to make their lives better, to help them find a settlement that will at least allow them to lead physically comfortable lives, I will. That is what I do.
I am a lucky man. I come home to an intact family, a wife and grown children; and we all have our lives to look back on and to look forward to, our holidays, like this recent Easter. Our lives to live, with no darkness, and with our joy intact. I tell myself that I appreciate what I have, that I appreciate everything that makes my life what it is, but it never feels as true as when I look at the calendar and see this day.
*Standard Drawing Rates-The SDR (Special Drawing Right) is an artificial “basket” currency used by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) for internal accounting purposes. The SDR is also used by some countries as a peg for their own currency, and is used as an international reserve asset.To calculate the value of the SDR in national currency (say, ABC), multiply the four exchange rates of the home country vis-à-vis the basket-currency countries (i.e., ABC/USD, ABC/EUR, ABC/JPY, and ABC/GBP) with the basket values indicated in the above table. Add these four numbers together to obtain the ABC/SDR exchange rate.
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
Federal officials say the two people aboard the cargo plane reported the fire moments after takeoff and requested to return to the Fairbanks airport.
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
A federal aviation official says one of the two pilots of an airplane that was laden with fuel reported a fire on board shortly before the aircraft crashed and burned
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
Nearly four years after a civilian skydiving aircraft collided with a Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey sitting on a San Diego runway, the U.S. government has settled the civil case after suing the businesses involved for damages
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
The single-engine plane crashed just after 10am on Wednesday morning on a secondary runway near Terminal 1 at the North Carolina airport.
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
An All Nippon Airways aircraft carrying a total of 211 people landed safely at an airport in Hokkaido in northern Japan, despite smoke emitting from one of its wings.
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
Two people were feared dead after a rare cargo plane crashed in the far north of the United States on Tuesday, troopers in Alaska said.
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
Two people are feared dead after a plane crashed in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Tuesday.
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
It is not known yet how many people were on board.
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
The plus-size passenger refused to give up an extra seat on a plane to a toddler.
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
Report says Russia may be behind GPS interference over Baltic Sea since last August
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
Emergency services were called to Sunshine Coast Airport after reports there was smoke coming from the cockpit of a Bonza plane on Tuesday afternoon.
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
VH-EBN (pictured) is the first of Qantas’ A330-200LR aircraft to be upgraded with Viasat-capable wi-fi antennae, and is expected to finish its three-week retrofitting this week. The remainder of Qantas’ international widebody fleet will be progressively refitted over the next couple of years.
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
MANILA – Two Philippine Navy (PN) aviators were killed after a training aircraft they were flying crashed in Cavite province on Thursday. In a statement, PN spokesperson Commander John Percie Alcos said the Robinson R-22 trainer helicopter with tail number NHT-421 tried to make an emergency…
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
Debris and damage left behind more than two months after a plane crashed on Interstate 75 in Collier County.
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
Social media does enable those who have had their proverbial 15 minutes of fame to get an extension.
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
An alligator caused some trouble after it decided to wander onto the runway at MacDill Air Force Base Monday morning.
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
A Cessna 120 single-engine plane took off from the Talkeetna airport after 2 p.m. on Sunday. The pilot lost power shortly after takeoff and was able to steer the plane…
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
If Ethan Guo is successful, he will be the youngest person to ever fly across all seven continents.
To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.